Best Ways to Learn Google Tag Manager

Updated: April 1st, 2020. Google Tag Manager is a very handy tool that helps you manage marketing tags (a.k.a. tracking codes) in one place and deploy them (usually) without the developer’s help. If you consider yourself a beginner, you’re probably wondering where to start? What’s the best way to learn Google Tag Manager? If you’re an intermediate or advanced user, you’re probably looking for new ways to improve your GTM knowledge?

In this blog post, I’ve collected a bunch of options on how you can learn Google Tag Manager as fast as possible.

The Very Beginning

When I started using Google Tag Manager in early 2013 I struggled with almost everything. There was very little information on how to get started and implement something meaningful, in addition to that the user interface was clunky and difficult to understand. There were only a few actionable tutorials available for non-developers like me at that time, so all I managed to implement was only a basic Google Analytics Pageview tag. And that’s it. *sigh*

Luckily, those times are long gone thanks to these awesome ways to learn Google Tag Manager.

#2. Free Online Courses

Free online courses will give you a good basic perception of what Google Tag Manager is and what its main components are. If you’re just starting (or just considering to learn), these online courses are fairly good options.

Back in 2015, Google launched its own GTM Fundamentals course, however, for unknown reasons they shut it down in 2018 (probably it was considered as an outdated course). Time went by and no official substitute was offered. That’s where I chimed in and created a free Google Tag Manager Fundamentals course for the latest version of GTM.

In this course, you’ll learn the basics of Google Tag Manager, how to properly install it, how to set tags, triggers, variables, how to test and publish your changes. Also, you’ll get some tips on what topics should you learn next.

Here’s what’s inside the course:

90+ minutes of video material

A 30-question quiz at the end of the course

Every lesson is enriched with related useful resources

If some questions arise during the course, you’ll find the link to our Facebook community under each video lesson.

#3. Premium Online Courses

Another alternative of how to learn Google Tag Manager is paid online courses. Unlike free courses (that just scratch the surface), paid ones will give you a more personal and premium experience, will go deeper into the topic, and will help you go further with your skillset.

This course is a complete package for beginners. While free GTM Fundamentals course explains the very essential topics, GTM For Beginners dives way deeper, explains how to track various interactions, how to track sales/conversions not only with Google Analytics but also with Facebook Pixel and Google Ads.

Additionally, this 9-hour course will explain how to comply with your tag management with GDPR, and, of course, how to apply GTM in real-life projects.

Here’s what’s inside the course:

9 hours of video material

Quick quizzes after each module

Many practical tasks and a sandbox

Private Facebook group for students

Downloadable resources, checklists, templates

The final task is reviewed by the instructor + personal feedback

Lifetime access to the course material

Of course, you can learn Google Tag Manager by yourself. But it will take you months (many months to achieve that). With this course, you’ll save a lot of time and reach your destination faster. Learn more about this course

This course is your next level (compared to the Beginners course). After taking it, you will unlock the true potential of Google Tag Manager and will be more confident in your tracking setup.

You will learn how Data Layer works under the hood, you will understand how to utilize very useful (but not that popular) variables. Additionally, I will teach you how to implement the GA Enhanced Ecommerce feature via GTM and so much more!

Here’s what’s inside the course:

11 hours of video material

Quick quizzes after each module

Many practical tasks and a sandbox

Private Facebook group for students

Downloadable resources, checklists, templates

The final task is reviewed by the instructor + personal feedback

Lifetime access to the course material

#4. Paid Offline Courses

*Quick side note*

I have to admit, there is a pretty solid supply of offline Google Tag Manager training courses and I’m really happy for that. This means that people are getting more and more interested in learning web analytics and how to implement various tracking codes to their websites.

Well, first of all, thanks to Avinash Kaushik who made web analytics cool and trendy. But it’s also fantastic to see the growing variety of online marketing tools which make our work exciting and interesting each day.

*end of side note*

Live training sessions (a.k.a. paid offline courses) give you the most personal and premium experience. Participants work in a live Google Tag Manager account, do various exercises, take short quizzes (usually), and actively participate throughout the training sessions to reinforce the lessons.

This makes the entire learning process much faster. Once you bump into some obstacles, the instructor notices that and gives a helping hand by providing necessary answers/tips.

Usually paid offline courses take from 1 to 3 days. Since I am running such sessions myself, the optimal duration is 2 days (IMHO), because:

It’s nearly impossible to cover all important GTM topics in one day. Well, technically speaking, it’s possible, but the amount of new information is overwhelming. People need some time to digest what they learn and one day is not enough.

On the second day, I always like to recap what we’ve already learned.

3-day-sessions might be too exhausting to some participants (+ they usually have their day jobs, so taking 3 days off their regular work schedule might be too “expensive”).

Don’t worry if your country is not on the list above. There are many other Google Tag Manager training sessions, just google it. Chances are there’s at least one in your country. Otherwise, choose any other alternative mentioned in this blog post.

A quick tip: always read the reviews of the course. If there are none, the course is probably is pretty new (or salespersons are pretty lazy 🙂 ). In that case, read about other courses offered by that company. Usually, the ratings of all training sessions correlate.

#5. Books

Google Tag Manager for Beginners

Created by: Matteo Zambon (Tag Manager Italia)Level of difficulty: From Beginner to Intermediate

This book is for those who are starting with Google Tag Manager and want to understand the logic behind it, what are tags, triggers, variables, data layer, and so much more. Even though the book’s title includes the word “beginners”, there are also some intermediate (and a pinch of advanced) topics that you will find useful.

Fun fact. I had a chance to get into the creative process of this book and suggested some improvements that were later implemented by Matteo. So you could say that this book is 0.01% mine 🙂

Practical Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager For Developers

Created by: Jonathan Weber and the Team at BounteousLevel of difficulty: From Beginner to Advanced

If you’re more of a book person, I highly recommend Practical Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for Developers. Don’t be intimidated by its title. Although it covers various technical topics, you’ll understand them even if you’re not a developer. It starts from basic concepts and then gradually increases the level of difficulty.

It explains a concept and then takes you step-by-step on how to implement that concept. You should do the exercises if you want to get anything out of this book. This book consists of 50% Google Tag Manager and 50% Google Analytics tutorials.

I have it on my shelf, you should too.

#6. Comprehensive Guides/Resources

Level of difficulty: From Beginner to Advanced

Let’s go back to free Google Tag Manager resources. After you’ve completed Google Analytics Fundamentals free online course (which I always recommend as the first step of this GTM-learning journey), go ahead and try these guides/resources:

Google Tag Manager Glossary (160+ terms). To make your life a little easier, I’ve assembled a huge list of Google Tag Manager (GTM) terms to help you avoid confusion in the future. Whether you’re looking to understand the language of GTM or help train someone else, this Google Tag Manager Dictionary should be your best companion.

The Library of Google Tag Manager Recipes. An ever-growing list of ready-made GTM container templates with the most common solutions. Download them, import to Google Tag Manager and you’re good to go! Expand your web analytics with ease!

Also, you might be interested in this e-book: 7 steps to become an experienced Google Tag Manager user. Built for intermediate GTM users who want to reach the next level. Click the banner below and download it free.

#7. Practice practice practice

All these courses and resources would be useless without practice, so make sure to always keep GTM running in one of your browser tabs. Playing around with my personal projects’ GTM containers + working with personal clients is the main cause of my GTM breakthrough and growing skills.

Although there are still a lot of lessons to be learned, I feel that I’ve come a moderately long way. Here are my tips for you to get more practical knowledge:

Do you have your own website/blog? Start tracking it with GTM.

Do you work in an agency? Start implementing GTM in new projects. Real-life situations are what drives knowledge. Are you working with a team? If there’s someone who knows GTM pretty well, learn from them. Ask questions.

Join forums, groups, and communities. If someone asks for help, try solving their problem. Don’t promise anything upfront, because you’ll probably fail at first (due to lack of experience), but eventually, you’ll get better at this. Trial and error is the way to go.

Be up-to-date. Follow Others

Communities

Join these communities if you want to be the first to hear the GTM news, solve your problems, learn Google Tag Manager tricks, and get some new ideas.

Blogs/Websites

Conclusion: How To Learn Google Tag Manager

There are multiple ways to master GTM, both free and paid. My recommendation is to start with a free GTM Fundamentals course (created by me). In less than a day you’ll get the basics necessary for further growth.

Then, think of how much spare time do you have. Choose paid online or offline courses if time is very precious for you. Otherwise, try learning on your own: follow blogs, watch video tutorials, etc. Learning on your own is definitely possible but will require much more time.

But most importantly, keep practicing. You might keep reading all you want, but without actual battlefield experience, the theory is pretty much useless.

Hi Julius. I'm referring to the Mini-course: Google Tag Manager Fundamentals and particularly the Event section. There are more options in the current Tag Manager interface. It's somewhat logical but as a beginner, it creates bumps in the road. I'll reach out to you in an email. Thanks for the great content and info!